Something of historic proportions is happening

Scott Free

House Member
May 9, 2007
3,893
46
48
BC
Yes, I agree the Beave has a useful insight there Scott, but I'm having some difficulty understanding what the old British Empire has to do with this. It fell a long time ago. Psychologically, at least in the minds of the colonized, I think the British Empire effectively fell when the Japanese captured Singapore in WW2, though it took several decades more for that insight to penetrate the political and administrative minds in the Colonial Office. That was the first time a European imperial power with global reach was decisively and significantly defeated by a non-European power. WW2 was the end of Britain as a global superpower, and its replacement by the United States. That's oversimplified, but I think it's essentially correct.

I'm not trying to rewrite history and your version is perfectly fine. I just see the USA as a continuation of the British. This is to say that I see the entire object of empire as more encompassing than just a flag and territory. I think there is cultural element of it too. For example, in antiquity, historians would be very unlikely to call a territory that spoke Egyptian something other than part of Egypt. Another example would be to label Rome, once it split, as different empires, which no doubt the Romans did but such distinctions, as are current, do not stand the test of time. I just tend to take this longer view of things.

More generally, I'd be inclined to argue that something of historic proportions is *always* happening, but it usually becomes clear only in hindsight.

I wouldn't argue against that.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
I find it funny that all through the Bush years everybody but a few lunatics, were screaming for change and now that there is an opportunity, many are having heebee jebeez. You can't please everybody... maybe nobody. Until we stop following leaders we will always feel insecure.
 

darkbeaver

the universe is electric
Jan 26, 2006
41,035
201
63
RR1 Distopia 666 Discordia
I find it funny that all through the Bush years everybody but a few lunatics, were screaming for change and now that there is an opportunity, many are having heebee jebeez. You can't please everybody... maybe nobody. Until we stop following leaders we will always feel insecure.

But Cliffy hope of change is perrenial it is a brick in the wall of human nature and every despot in recorded history has used those two words in combination to the exact same end in pursuit of power. Mr Obama the mezmerisor had only to mouth the words repeatedly in fine oratory fashion and the masses can't get them from thier heads. He should be afraid of unmet expectations. Oweing to the regretably low levels of general western intellect he may be able to skate on his celebrity status for a couple of years but even the dullest will eventually clue into the emptyness of his words which will make a thinner and thinner soup as time and circumstance reveal that the man was a great liar same as the old boss. The trouble for him will be convincing the sheeple to inlist in good order and number, something he is already aided by with the stanky economy, global war is his goal, plain and simple. There simply is no other salvation for the AmWay. IMO
 

Tyr

Council Member
Nov 27, 2008
2,152
14
38
Sitting at my laptop
SOMETHING OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS IS HAPPENING

by Tim Wood
2008 December 1

I am a student of history. Professionally. I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten - fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two years. We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?

We learn just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has “loaned” two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money, yours and mine. And that is three times the 700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of “we the people,” who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not, they now control us.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumb down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents of why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over proposition 8 that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing un-elected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government, our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about) the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x ten.

And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, religion and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course the media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)

Mr. Obama’s winning platform can be boiled down to one word: change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning to a world social government.

I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the messiah was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his “brown shirts” would bully them into submission. And then, he was duly elected to office, a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department-by-department, person-by-person, bureaucracy-by-bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the indigent, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world.

He did it with a compliant media; did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and ‘CHANGE’. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think that I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. Don’t forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years, a shorter time span than just two terms of a U. S. presidency, it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors, all with the best of intentions of course. The road to Hell is always paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another drink, and ignoring what is transpiring around me.

Some people scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. Pray with me for the truth, because the truth will set us free.

Source

Interesting piece.

I tend to agree with him except he pulls an explanation from an historical precedence that doesn't seem to fit. He is too conspiracy minded, IMO, since most events like he describes are naturally born out of human social structures and there is little need for a diabolical architect. A society that thinks greed is good has little recourse except to follow the path the USA has but I do agree with him that something big has happened: I think we are witnessing the absolute final end of the British empire.

Any other thoughts?

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumb down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents of why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

It was termed the Reagan initiative and tended towards favouring citizens who were sheep
 

ironsides

Executive Branch Member
Feb 13, 2009
8,583
60
48
United States
Something just may be coming.
After a surge in firearms sales linked to political change in Washington, some South Florida gun dealers report an inability to meet the demand for certain types of ammunition.

Curtis Soles of Davie's Tropical Firearms said he recently received a shipment of five 1,000-round boxes of .223-caliber rifle cartridges used in the AR-15 and sold all five in one day. Price: $450 a box.

 

EagleSmack

Hall of Fame Member
Feb 16, 2005
44,168
96
48
USA
Something just may be coming.
After a surge in firearms sales linked to political change in Washington, some South Florida gun dealers report an inability to meet the demand for certain types of ammunition.

Curtis Soles of Davie's Tropical Firearms said he recently received a shipment of five 1,000-round boxes of .223-caliber rifle cartridges used in the AR-15 and sold all five in one day. Price: $450 a box.


The cost of ammo amazes me. I was in Vegas and I looked into firing the ol' M-16A2 again. They said it would cost $60 for 50 rounds! Screw that! I fired one for four years for free.
 

normbc9

Electoral Member
Nov 23, 2006
483
14
18
California
Scott,
Your antenna isn't the only one sensing something is going on theat is out of the norm. There have been many Executive Orders signed quietly and some countermand those issue by Bush. But there are others that make me pay attention. I do think the new administration is truly interested in change but they sure are in a stmbling mode right now. I agree with Eagle and want to give this new group a decent chance. They have only been in office for month now.
I do see where some of the European countries have taken a wait and see attitude and they usually don't do that. His choices for some cabinet positions are of interest to me. But time will tell all of us.
 

indoubleyousee

New Member
Apr 6, 2009
1
0
1
On Something of Historic Proportions is Happening

Who wrote this?!
SBU Lewis E. Schollian College of Education and Social Sciences: Not our Tim Wood, a case of mistaken identity

Despite its attempt at deception (or maybe even because of it), I appreciate that someone sent this essay to me for the simple reason that it troubled me and got me to thinking and researching. It was fun.
The first sign of trouble is the way the article starts, "I am a student of history. Professionally. I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied it all my life." No sound professional will start a serious essay in this manner. There is no indication of who this person really is. I tried to find out what these 15 books might be. Amazon offers about that many history books written by Tim Wood, most of which are aimed at an audience age 9 to 12 and average 48 pages each. Given that even the most brilliant historian of all time might choose to remain relatively undiscovered by writing for an audience of pre-teens, I still am not impressed by the essayist's credentials.
Another occurrence at duping readers is, "I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about." This rhetoric screams, "I don't know what I'm talking about!" My translation of this sentence is something like, "Because I am unwilling and/or unable to establish my credentials, I'm going to demand that you respect me blindly." First, professors do not necessarily know what they are talking about just because they teach college. Considered within context, " . . . our education system is worse than a joke," we really need to know where this professor teaches. No college professor worth a salary is going to judge the entire education system based on one college, especially when, for all we know this is a professor who teaches remedial history at a community college in Whoknowswhere, USA.
In any case, back to the essay. If that's not enough for this self-proclaimed prophet, he promotes his message "as a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions." How does he qualify his "objective" view? "I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it." Okay . . . who can argue with that? Sorry, but that’s not rational, much less practical.
Essays like this and the people who get roused by them illustrate the harm that a little bit of education and a whole lot of arrogance can do to a population. The author conveniently omits one of the greatest elements of the Third Reich that allowed its successful rise: nationalism. Nazis successfully drew upon German nationalism and fear to motivate the masses after WWI. Fear itself can be a dangerous thing when it leads us to similar reactions to threats.
Finally, this author provides no solution to the problem he fabricates. This vacancy is unforgivable. His cry of warning is the equivalent of a driver yelling, "You're going to get hit by a car!” just before he runs over you. He intentionally evokes fear, but does nothing to help you. Okay, I will concede that he encourages us to “Look it up if you think I am exaggerating” and to “Read your history books.” However, it still comes across as arrogant, translated as, “No need to look it up because I’ve already done all the work for you, and I’m here to tell you what you should be thinking about it!”
To say the least, the essay reeks of amateur application of historical perspectives and ethics. The fact that so many people with good intentions are quick to lap up his sophomoric rhetoric is far more disturbing to me than his message. If readers are already prone to agree with a writer like this, they are only encouraged to justify their fear, rather than actually challenged to think for themselves. For me, I can’t hear what this writer is so desperately trying to say because I have no reason to trust him in the first place. He tries so hard to convince me that he is right that his message remains out of focus. As a result, all I get out of it is that another radical extremist is trying to warn us of another political conspiracy.
 

Sublime

Electoral Member
Mar 8, 2006
237
2
18
Toronto
I havn't been fallowing U.S. politics, is Obama black or is my T.V. messed up....not that it matters....just saying it would be cool if he was black?????
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
21,155
149
63
Historic proportions are nothing. If it's serious it's either epic or biblical.